Park City

My most recent adventure has taken me to Park City, Utah with my ski club, the Rocky Mountain Racers. Park City hosted some of the events for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and it is an amazing town. I am 4 days in to a two week camp and I am still getting used to the epic scenery as well as the extreme altitude. It is at 2100 meters, almost double where I live in Calgary.
So far we have done two long uphill rollerskis, a literally breathtaking mountain bike ride, a bit of shooting and some running.
Here is a picture from the top of a pass we rollerskied on day 2.

Fundrasing Success!

Thank you to everyone who showed up at my fundraiser Wednesday night! It was a big success and it was inspiring to see so many people coming out to support me. There were about 60 people who showed up, over 20 silent auction items and a bake sale thanks to my coworker Yvette. The cupcakes were fantastic!
A big thanks is in order for the MVP lounge at The Tennis Academy for hosting us and to Kris Demeanor for playing a great set!

Fundraiser!

I would like to invite everyone to my fundraising night on Wednesday September 12th! It will go from 7pm-9pm at the The Tennis Academy's MVP lounge in Calgary (5600 19 Street Southwest).There will be a silent auction, live music from Calgary's poet laureate Kris Demeanor, and a chance to try out biathlon with a laser rifle. There will a be $5 cover to get in and includes free wings. You will be able to purchase drinks and other food from the bar as well. I would love for everyone who can to come join me and support my dream of making it to the Olympics! For many of you who have already supported me in the past I would love to get a chance to thank you for all your help as well.

The Tennis Academy is located just behind Glenmore athletic park, here is a close up map. Check out the address on google maps to find out how to get there.

Summer Update

As every good biathlete should know, the summer is the time of year when most of the training is done and improvements are made. My summer has included some great training and some definite improvements. It has also been a lot of fun going on training camps with my teammates, hanging with friends, and working at the Westhills location of Cobs Bread in Calgary. One of the big perks of the job is getting to take home some baking after each shift. I have become rather popular with my friends and teammates :P.

As far as training goes, this is what I have been up to.

May:
-Spring skiing camp at Sunshine Village

June:
-Road biking camp near Creston (thanks to the Poffenroths for hosting us!)

July:
-Haig glacier summer skiing camp #1
-24 hours of adrenaline mountain bike race 

August:
-Haig glacier summer skiing camp #2 and #3


Mountain biking is one of my favorite kinds of summer training.

Besides all these exciting camps I have been training in Canmore most days doing shooting, rollerskiing, biking, running, and strength training. My shooting has been coming along quite well. I participated in some shooting tests with the Canadian national biathlon team as well as the Alberta biathlon team. After a series of 4 different tests combining precision and shooting speed I placed first!

My plan for the upcoming month includes another glacier skiing camp as well as a 2 week training camp in Park City, Utah. Our club will be training at the 2002 Olympic biathlon venue and spending time on the stomping grounds of the US XC ski team. The high altitude venue will provide an extra training benefit.

I will also be hosting a fundraising event in Calgary on Wednesday September 12th in the evening. I will make an invitation post ASAP.

Thanks to my family, friends, coaches and teammates at Rocky Mountain Racers for making this a great summer!

All the best,
Kurtis

For biathlon April is our one rest month. I have been spending my time unwinding, playing guitar, training a little, figuring out my financial stuff and trying to find a job. If anyone knows of a place that might suit me and is looking to hire please let me know. You can comment on this post. 

Also, don't forget to check out all the links on the left side of the page. All of them have helped me out quite a lot over my career. I am always looking for new supporters so give me a shout if you would like to join them.

All the best,

Kurtis

Welcome to my blog. I hope to give my supporters and fans a chance to keep up with my athletic endeavours.

I have just come to the end of a fantastic biathlon race season. I had put down the my rifle during the 2010-2011 season and pursued only cross country skiing in order to gain perspective. I was not yet able to deal with the pressure I had placed on myself after my past success. This was my comeback year, and it couldn't have gone any better. Thanks to the help of my supporters I was able to do everything I needed to have great races at the 2012 IBU Junior World Championships. Here are some news articles about this years big highlight:

http://fasterskier.com/2012/02/after-year-long-hiatus-from-biathlon-wenzel-proves-he-can-handle-the-pressure-by-picking-up-second-world-junior-championship-title/

http://biathloncanada.ca/main.php?p=4491&lan=1

http://new.calgaryherald.com/sports/Calgary+Kurtis+Wenzel+wins+junior+biathlon+gold/6185701/story.html

I finished off my season with a trip to Quebec for the National Championships in biathlon and cross country skiing. I was not at my best, but I was able to win a bronze medal at biathlon nationals while racing up into the older category of senior men. At cross country nationals I finished my first 50km classic race! An older team-mate of mine once called the 50km race 'the true passage to manhood'. I did feel pretty manly afterwards.

Here are some photo highlights of my race season in chronological order:

2nd in Biathlon NorAm, Senior Men, Canmore AB. I am in second in the photo following 3 time IBU cup winner Nathan Smith

9th in NorAm XC Skate Sprint, Open Men, Rossland BC (I'm on the left)

Gold at Junior World Championships, Kontiolahti FIN 

Anchoring our relay team to 6th place finish

Moved up 16 spots in the pursuit from 23rd to 7th

Mass start at Nationals

 3rd place at Nationals, 10km sprint, Senior Men, Quebec QC